Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Playing by the Rules”
Our Bible verse for today: “The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: ‘Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.’ But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the Lord their God. They rejected his decrees and the covenant he made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless.” 2 Kings 17:13-15 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “Pray for our nation”
Those words in 2 Kings 17:13-15 were written about the nations of Israel and Judah but they could just as well as have been written about the USA in our day. God gave us a Christian heritage. Our nation was founded on Biblical principles. They’re written into the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. This was intentional on the part of the Founding Fathers and for most of our history, as a nation we lived by those principles.
That doesn’t mean that all of our citizens were or are Christian, they’re not. And it also doesn’t mean that all of the Founding Fathers and the leaders since then were all Christians, some of them weren’t. But it does mean that Biblical principles were recognized as being the best principles to found our nation upon and for our citizens to live by, and for more than two hundred years we have thrived because of it.
Not so much any more. We have become like those ancient Jews who rejected the Word of God. We have turned from His decrees and the covenant He made with our Founding Fathers. And our nation is largely not heeding the warnings He has repeatedly given to us. We idolize and worship worthless principles, worthless leaders, and worthless objects, and as a result, like the Jews in ancient Israel and Judah, we are ourselves are becoming worthless. And yes, we too could certainly be described as a “stiff-necked people”.
As we conclude this month of devotional messages on the theme of “Playing by the Rules” I want to encourage all of us to pray for our nation. To a large extent we no longer plays by the rules God so clearly gave to us and as a result, the very fabric of our society is unraveling.
Whereas our laws were once intentionally Biblically based, we now live in a time when many new laws are diametrically opposed to Biblical principles, and that is celebrated by many as being a good thing. Standards of conduct which for hundreds of years of our history were recognized as being good and decent are now ridiculed and even condemned; while conduct that used to be widely condemned is now celebrated as good and normal. Our standards and expectations have become confused and twisted and the moral fabric of our society is unraveling.
But, Jesus is still on the throne and He is still sovereign over the affairs of nations. And, prayer still works. So please pray for our nation. Regardless of whether or not society as a whole lives by Biblical rules, we as individual followers of Jesus Christ can. So I encourage you to be force for good in your sphere of influence. In your home, in your neighborhood, in your school, and at your place of work be the one who does play by the rules.
Each of us can make a difference right where we are and if enough of us do that, it will make an impact on society as a whole. So don’t despair and don’t give up. Regardless of what others do, you be the one who does play by God’s rules.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 